Updated: 2023-03-30 06:58:00 EDT


Purpose

This webpage/report is intended to aggregate information from different agencies (i.e. USACE, SFWMD, FWC, USGS and NOAA) into one spot to help inform local government agencies and stakeholders on conditions within Lake Okeechobee, the Caloosahatchee River and Estuary and Coastal southwest Florida. The data provided here should be considered preliminary and are subject to change.


USACE Data Summary

Daily discharge volume in Acre-Feet per day for the last 14-days. Data Source: USACE

Date

S77

S78

S79

S310

S351

S352

S354

L8

S308

S80

NthLake 1

WCA1

WCA2

WCA3

ENP 2

03-29

5389

3590

4592

181

1567

684

633

734

607

56

1037

0

0

204

1,158.346

03-28

4094

3633

4639

107

1640

774

1244

787

726

774

1027

0

0

171

03-27

2943

2451

3336

117

1734

353

966

756

762

873

1041

0

0

177

03-26

2844

1617

2955

54

1976

641

887

722

738

670

1041

0

0

159

03-25

2781

2985

3465

26

2263

964

958

730

857

777

1029

0

0

296

1,257.520

03-24

3592

3887

4411

131

2477

1214

805

704

726

890

1041

0

26

182

1,418.181

03-23

4618

3659

4989

115

2200

1166

1033

726

643

34

1095

0

0

228

1,217.851

03-22

4701

3242

4303

128

2124

1033

897

732

851

658

1061

0

0

254

1,180.165

03-21

3878

3139

3432

4

2346

1055

438

702

889

816

1033

0

0

190

1,426.115

03-20

2896

2881

3476

184

1791

736

766

706

809

645

1051

0

0

194

1,350.743

03-19

2495

2271

3849

195

0

0

0

708

774

1000

1049

0

0

206

1,277.355

03-18

2535

1692

2921

289

0

153

216

639

797

1023

1188

0

0

198

1,338.842

03-17

3455

2761

3674

134

125

135

12

502

851

562

1168

0

0

206

1,350.743

1 Includes discharges from Fisheating Creek, S71, S72, S84, S84X, S65E, and S65EX1

2 Estimated as S12s+(S333+S333N)-S356. If no data is present (i.e. -NR-) either S12s, S333s or S356 data is not available.

Average and total net discharge volume in Acre-Feet per day for the last 7-days. Data Source: USACE

Statistic

S77

S78

S79

S310

S351

S352

S354

L8

S308

S80

NthLake

WCA1

WCA2

WCA3

ENP

Average

3752

3117

4055

104

1980

828

932

737

723

582

1045

0

4

202

1,262.975

Total

26261

21822

28387

731

13857

5796

6526

5159

5058

4074

7313

0

26

1416

5,051.898

Average and total net discharge volume in Acre-Feet per day for the last 14-days. Data Source: USACE

Statistic

S77

S78

S79

S310

S351

S352

S354

L8

S308

S80

NthLake

WCA1

WCA2

WCA3

ENP

Average

3555

2908

3849

128

1557

685

681

704

771

675

1066

0

2

205

1,297.586

Total

46221

37808

50042

1665

20243

8908

8854

9148

10028

8778

13864

0

26

2666

12,975.861

Caloosahatchee Conditions Summary: Flow to the Caloosahatchee Estuary had a 7-day average of 2,045 cfs at S-79 with a 7-day average of 1,891 cfs (92%) coming from the lake at S-77. The 14-day moving average flow at S-79 is 1,964 cfs and has been in the optimal flow envelope (750 - 2100 cfs; RECOVER 2020) for 43 days.

Lake Flows: In the past 7 days the total outflow from Lake Okeechobee was 63,387 AF with 26,261 AF to the Caloosahatchee through S-77,5,058 AF through S-308 in Port Mayaca, 731 AF through S-310 in Clewiston, and 26,178 AF to the EAA through S-351, S-352, and S-354. The total net inflow to the Lake was 7,313 AF (7,313 AF from Fisheating Creek, S-71, S-72, S-84s, S-65EX, and S-65EX1) . Water conservation areas received flows of 0 AF, 26 AF, and 1,416 AF at WCA1, WCA2, and WCA3, respectively. Everglades National Park received 5,052 AF.


Lake Okeechobee Level: 14.60 ft (Operational Management Band)

Lake Okeechobee Inflow: 523 cfs

Last Week: 14.81 ft

Lake Okeechobee Outflow: 4670 cfs

Weekly Rainfall Total:

WP Franklin ≥ 0.00”

Ortona ≥ 0.00”

Moore Haven ≥ 0.00”


Lake Okeechobee


Stage Elevation

Lake Okeechobee daily average stage elevation for water year 2023 (WY2023) relative to the last two water years (red line) relative to the Lake Okeechobee Regulation Schedule (LORS) .

Data are provisional and subject to change.


Stage and recession rates this time for the current and last three water years

Date
(Month-Day)

Water Year

Stage
(ft, NGVD29)

7-Day Recession Rate
(ft 7-d⁻¹)

30-Day Recession Rate
(ft 30-d⁻¹) B

03-28

2020

11.98

-0.22

-0.77

03-29

2021

14.50

-0.25

-0.84

03-29

2022

13.84

-0.20

-0.75

03-29

2023

14.66 A

-0.15

-0.91

A Value estimated from average stage height across L001, L005, L006, LZ40, S133TW, S352HW & S4TW

B -0.5 ft 30-d⁻¹ maximum 30-day Recession Rate for HAB Deviation

  • As of 03/29/2023 the mean stage elevation in Lake Okeechobee is within the Operational Low Sub- Management Band at a stage elevation of 14.66 feet (NGVD29).

Lake Okeechobee 7-day and 30-day water level recession/ascension rates during WY2023. Negative values indicate falling water levels (recession) and positive values indicate raising water level (ascension) during this 7-day period .

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Lake Okeechobee 7-day water level recession/ascension rates stop-light metric relative to the draft Snail Kite Performance Measure.

Data are provisional and subject to change.


Regional Rainfall

Weekly (03/23 - 03/29) rainfall totals along the Caloosahatchee River

Mointoring Location 1

Weekly
Rainfall
Total
(inches) 2

S79 (WP Franklin)

0.0

S78 (Ortona)

0.3

S77 (Moore Haven)

0.0

1 Data Source: SFWMD DBHYDRO (DBKEYS 16414,15495,16415) and USACE reports

2 Based on data from 03/23/2023 - 03/29/2023


Relative Algae Condition

Sonde monitoring locations within Lake Okeechobee conducted by SFWMD.


Daily Chlorophyll, Phycocyanin,relative ratio of Phycocyanin (Phyco) relative to Phyco and Chlorophyll (Chl) and Turbidity within Lake Okeechobee monitored by SFWMD. Chlorophyll and Phycocyanin are plotted on log-scale. Thresholds of concern/risk identified for Chlorophyll (20 and 40 μg/L) and Phycocyanin (40 μg/L; Cotterill et al 2019 & Macário et al 2015).

Data are provisional and subject to change.

  • Cotterill et al (2019) Phycocyanin sensors as an early warning system for cyanobacteria blooms concentrations: a case study in the Rotorua lakes. New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research 53:555–570.
  • Macário et al (2015) New insights towards the establishment of phycocyanin concentration thresholds considering species-specific variability of bloom-forming cyanobacteria. Hydrobiologia 757:155–165.


Weekly mean water quality sonde Chlorophyll and Phycocyanin concentration at monitoring locations across Lake Okeechobee

Site

7-day Mean
Chlorophyll Conc.
(μg L⁻¹) 1

7-day Mean
Phycocyanin Conc.
(μg L⁻¹) 1

Green Algal
Concern Category 2

Blue-green Algae
Concern Category 3

L001

28

3

Warning

Min. Concern

L005

13

94

Min. Concern

High Concern

L006

24

4

Warning

Min. Concern

LZ40

44

37

High Concern

Min. Concern

POLESOUT1

18

49

Min. Concern

High Concern

POLESOUT3

11

3

Min. Concern

Min. Concern

1 Based on data from 03/24/2023 - 03/30/2023

2 Chlorophyll Categories:
Min. Concern: values < 20 μg L⁻¹
Warning: values ≥ 20μg L⁻¹ and <40 μg L⁻¹
High Concern: values ≥ 40 μg L⁻¹

3 Phycocyanin Categories:
Min. Concern: values < 40 μg L⁻¹
High Concern: values ≥ 40 μg L⁻¹

Algae Coverage

Cyanobacteria Index for Lake Okeechobee for 2023-03-29 (Data Source: NOAA NCCOS)

Cyanobacteria Index for Lake Okeechobee for 2023-03-29 (Data Source: NOAA NCCOS)



Average daily windspeed and direction and cyanobacteria algal bloom coverage of Lake Okeechobee. Data from NOAA NCCOS HAB data explorer.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Blue-Green Algae Sampling Results

Blue-green Algae sampling results for the last 30-days for the 10 county area (Lee, Collier, Hendry, Glades, Okeechobee, Martin, Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Monroe). Data from FDEP Blue-green algae dashboard

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Of the 19 samples collected, cyanobacteria was dominate in 10 samples, 2 samples had toxins present ranging from 0.53 to 0.81 μg L⁻¹ (does not include non-detects).



Caloosahatchee River Estuary

Discharge

Fort Myers Yacht Basin salinity (SCCF-RECON) and S79 discharge (SFWMD) data for the last six months.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Fort Myers Yacht Basin salinity (SCCF-RECON) and S79 discharge (SFWMD) data for the last last 30 days.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

S-77 (from Lake Okeechobee) and S-79 (to Tidal Basin) flow data along the C-43 and Caloosahatchee River. C-43 Basin Flow was calculated as the difference from S-77 and S-79.

Data are provisional and subject to change.


Daily, 14-day moving average and 30-day moving average discharge for S-79 relative to the Northern Estuaries RECOVER performance measure and the established minimium flows and levels (MFLs) for the recent 6-month period.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Daily, 14-day moving average and 30-day moving average discharge for S-79 relative to the Northern Estuaries RECOVER performance measure and the established minimium flows and levels (MFLs) for the recent 30-day period.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

  • As of Mar 29, discharges conditions are within the optimum RECOVER salinity envelope.


Cumulative discharge for S-79 (to Tidal Basin) and S-77 (from Lake Okeechobee) for the last three Florida Water Years (May - April). Day of water year is analogous to day of year with Day 1 = May 1st.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Chlorophyll, Phycocyanin & fDOM

Top: Daily dissolved organic matter (fluorescence DOM). Middle: Daily relative fluorescence Chlorophyll and Phycocyanin observed at the floating sensor bouy at S-79 monitoring by USGS. Bottom: The relative ratio of Phycocyanin (Phyco) relative to Phyco and Chlorophyll (Chl).

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Estuary Salinity

Daily average bottom salinity data for the last 14-days from sampling locations within the tidal Caloosahatchee River Estuary relative to oyster health (Sanibel, Shell Point and Cape Coral) and tape grass (Vallisneria americana) health (Ft. Myers only) conditions.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Red Tide Abundance


Red tide sampling results for the last 30-days from just south of Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys. Data from NOAA HABSOS Program.Data are provisional and subject to change.

Red tide sampling results for the last 30-days from just south of Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys. Data from NOAA HABSOS Program.Data are provisional and subject to change.

Red tide sampling results for the last 30-days from just south of Tampa Bay to the Florida Keys. Data from NOAA HABSOS Program

Data are provisional and subject to change.

Count of samples within each abundance category within the greater Caloosahatchee River Estuary (see grey box on map)

Cell Abundance (Cells L⁻¹)

Number
of
Samples

not present/background (0-1,000)

10

very low (>1,000-10,000)

6

low (>10,000-100,000)

10

medium (>100,000-1,000,000)

9

high (>1,000,000)

3


Chlorophyll fluorescence for coastal southwest Florida for 2023-03-29 (Data Source: NOAA NCCOS)

Chlorophyll fluorescence for coastal southwest Florida for 2023-03-29 (Data Source: NOAA NCCOS)

Red Tide Forecast

Red Tide Prediction and Tracking for coastal Southwest Florida from FWC and USF link.

Upper and lower water column HAB (Red Tide) forecasted trajectories from Ocean Circulation Group at USF.Upper and lower water column HAB (Red Tide) forecasted trajectories from Ocean Circulation Group at USF.

Upper and lower water column HAB (Red Tide) forecasted trajectories from Ocean Circulation Group at USF.

Statewide Gulf of Mexico coastal Red Tide forecast from FWC and USF.

Statewide Gulf of Mexico coastal Red Tide forecast from FWC and USF.


Charlotte Harbor

Discharge

Daily discharge into Charlotte Harbor from major rivers and creeks. Data source: USGS. Grey dashed lines between points indicate a potential data gap with values linearly interpolated.

Data are provisional and subject to change.

 

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